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Agencies are looking into the rare seismic event to find out exactly what happened.

Richard Luckett, a seismologist at the British Geological Survey said this is the largest earthquake in mainland UK since 2008.

He said: "There has been a magnitude 4.4 earthquake in South Wales, about 20 km NNE of Swansea.

"This earthquake has been felt across a large area of Wales and England, with the furthest reports so far from Birmingham and Devon.

"This is the largest earthquake in mainland UK since the 5.2 magnitude Market Rasen earthquake in 2008."

The range of the earthquake, with its centre in Swansea (Image: EMSC)

A map showing where the quake was felt (Image: EMSC)

Cornwall Live reporter, Hannah Maltwood, who was in St Agnes on the north coast of Cornwall said that she felt the floor move beneath her feet and the house “thud” when the tremor hit at around 2.30pm today.

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She said: “I was sat on the sofa and felt it shake underneath me, it was quite a heavy thud. My feet were on the floor and I could feel it moving. I have a husky and she immediately started howling.

“I thought it must have been a heavy vehicle passing perhaps, but there wasn’t anything outside. Then my sister came in asking if I had felt the house shake and I started to think it could be something more.

The 4.4-magnitude earthquake shook buildings across parts of Britain, with people from Cornwall to Blackpool reporting strong tremors.

In Wales, Swansea University campus had to be evacuated as the area was at the epicentre of the earthquake.